Too bad for the public at hearing

The Sept. 17 Midway Heights Water District public hearing on raising monthly service charges, and treated and irrigation water rates, was a lesson in how not to treat your customers. Although there were only seven members of the public present (only four spoke), President Craig Stone emphatically refused my request for a couple of additional minutes beyond the three minutes he had imposed (a time limit usually reserved for large public attendance). President Stone even rejected another public member’s offer to cede their time to me. I did not vote against the increases, merely requested a postponement until customers received two things: (1) A detailed accounting of how the tank project ballooned from $559,000, in 2011 – justifying the first rate increase, to $892,400 in 2012, justifying yet another increase before the project started, and (2) Correct a rate chart depicting Midway’s water rates lower than neighboring districts — a comparison vigorously challenged by Meadow Vista and Weimar Water general managers (Sept. 6 letter to Midway). For additional background on this board’s actions, check out the July 26 article in the Colfax Record, “Rate hike looms for Midway Heights.”Pauline Nevins, Colfax